Preparation of 1 inch gold nanowires from PS-b-P4VP block copolymers

Abstract

We demonstrate a simple route for the preparation of 1 inch long continuous gold nanowires having an average diameter of 35 nm by electrospinning a block copolymer solution. Fibers with average diameters of 120-160 nm were collected from electrospinning 12 wt% polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) block copolymer-gold salt solution at three different applied voltages. In order to make continuous gold nanowires, electrospun fibers were immersed in the gold salt solution in ethanol. Subsequently, oxygen plasma treatment was applied to degrade polymers completely and the continuous gold nanowires were fabricated. The linear relationship of current versus voltage curve obtained from gold nanowires indicates metallically continuous gold nanowires.